Still no progress in Talks on SPO status

There is no progress in the talks between the government and VMRO-DPMNE on the procedures opened by the Special Prosecutor’s Office after the expiration of its term in June 2017. Lawyer Toni Menkinoski, who heads the opposition’s team, still considers that those cases were opened by an unauthorised plaintiff. VMRO-DPMNE is adamant that the Venice Commission should have the final say. The government will accept a check from the Commission only if that happens after adoption of the draft law. SDSM member and Justice Minister Renata Deskoska consider that VMRO-DPMNE’s proposal would mean amnesty. On the other hand, the opposition says it has read positive signals about replacing Special Prosecutor Katica Janeva. However, Deskoska claims there haven’t been talks about that at all. The unsuccessful meeting of the negotiations teams means that there are smaller and smaller chances for adoption of the draft law before the deadlines needed for finalisation of the EC Report. The government says the opposition is to blame for that, whereas VMRO-DPMNE considers that the other team isn’t coming ready to negotiate.